SAN ANTONIO — UTSA swept sixth-seeded Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon to advance to the Conference USA Tournament Championship Match against No. 21 Western Kentucky.
The Roadrunners (24-8) shined in every statistical category against the Godlen Eagles, including in the kills column with 42 for a .309 team hitting percentage. UTSA held Southern Miss to a .088 attack percentage and it was the ninth time the Birds held an opponent to a sub-.100 clip.
The Roadrunners opened the match with an impressive .406 hitting percentage for a 25-17 win. Jordan Kotara recorded half her kill total in the first set with five and ended the day with 10 winners and 13 digs for her first double-double of the season.
Leading from the get-go, UTSA jumped to an early 7-2 lead before forcing Southern Miss (24-11) to a timeout. The Golden Eagles struggled to make up the deficit and found themselves in too big of a hole to come back.
In the following two frames, UTSA won by identical scores of 25-16. The second set came easy behind Kasey Kiefer’s six kills. The junior finished the match with 13 kills, five digs and a pair of blocks.
The Roadrunners had another strong start and even scored six straight points before Southern Miss managed to get on the board.
The third set went back-and-forth before UTSA gained full control of the stanza. Five ties and two lead changes later, the Roadrunners were on fire with a 10-0 run to lead 15-5 and never looked back.
The last time UTSA played in a championship match was in its inaugural season in Conference USA back in 2013 when the Roadrunners won the regular season and went on to win the tournament.
Sunday’s championship match will begin at 3 p.m. and air on FOX College Sports.